It’s impossible to consider, in this climate of constant distraction, that a story could dominate an entire sports league for a day, let alone the entire sports media world. But Michael Jordan’s return on March 18, 1995, was prominent enough to blot out the sun for days.

The return of His Airness eclipsed the day’s results from the NCAA tournament. MLB teams at Spring Training kept practicing, but who was paying attention? MJ’s famous two-word fax of “I’m back” — delivered to the media on a Saturday, no less — sent shock waves throughout the world long before hashtags were more than anything you’d see in a phone book.

First Season Back

Jordan’s game, for the first time in years, was outsized by the hype around him. The Chicago Bulls lost at Market Square Garden to the ornery Reggie Miller-led Indiana Pacers. He “only” scored 19 points (but also dropped six dimes, nabbed six rebounds, and, for good measure, picked up three steals).

Still, had the game passed him by? He had bulked up significantly for baseball; had he lost a step?

Psyche!

After his pedestrian-by-only-his-standards game against the Pacers, Jordan warmed up. He hung 27 at the legendary Boston Garden in a Bulls win over the Celtics. Two nights later, in a homecoming, he scored 21 in a loss to the Orlando Magic. The Bulls would lose only twice more in the regular season. The next night in Atlanta, Jordan daggered the Hawks with a game-winner on his way to 32. The next game out at Madison Square Garden against the rival New York Knicks, a mere 10 days after announcing his return, Michael did Michael things on his way to 55 points.

#45 Jersey

Famously, Michael Jordan sported the #45 jersey throughout his return. The reason was simple: His return to basketball was so unexpected that neither the Bulls nor the NBA was prepared to “unretire” his legendary 23.

The number 45 was what Jordan had worn during his stint on the minor league Birmingham Barons baseball squad, and he thought it the most appropriate one to rock in his on-court return.

Back to #23

In Game One of the Eastern Conference’s semifinals, Orlando’s Nick Anderson famously stripped #45 in the closing seconds, leading to an Orlando fast break that gave the Magic the win.

It was a lapse by MJ and a great play by Anderson. Following the game, though, Anderson poked the tiger, stating Jordan “didn’t look like the old Michael Jordan” and that “number 45 doesn’t explode like number 23 used to.”

Ever the hyper-competitive athlete and trash-talker, Jordan switched back to #23 for the next game and the remainder of the series. The NBA fined the Bulls for the move, but the message was clear. MJ subsequently dropped 38 and 40 points in the next two games, with Anderson left primarily trying to take his foot from out of his mouth.

Of course, Orlando did wind up winning the series and went on to lose to the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals. Still, it was unmistakable that this was still Michael Jordan’s league, and the rest of the NBA was on notice.

The Bulls would win another three straight NBA titles beginning the very next season. The team also reset innumerable NBA records that took two decades to break. Michael Jordan, of course, remains the standard that all NBA greats are compared to — and Nick Anderson remains a footnote to a Michael Jordan trivia question.